A man spent a night in the cells for allegedly breaching his bail by failling to report to Macclesfield Police Station – when it was shut for Christmas.

Jordan Fenton, 21, of St Paul’s Road, is on bail for an assault charge and is due to be sentenced this week.

His bail conditions include reporting to Macclesfield Police Station every Tuesday and Thursday.

When he attended on December 27 the station was shut for Christmas holidays and he was unable to sign in.

But police then arrested him for breaching his bail when he attended the station on Thursday. He was kept in custody overnight.

When he appeared in court the next morning the breach charge was dropped.

Debbie Byrne, prosecuting, said: "The defendant was arrested as he didn’t sign on on Tuesday 27. He said that he had attended on the Tuesday and it’s true that the help desk at Macclesfield was closed for Christmas holidays.

"The breach of bail needs to be withdrawn." John Gallagher, defending, said after the hearing that the arrest was ‘ridiculous’.

He told the magistrates: "It would have been nice if the police station had shown initiative knowing the station was shut on Tuesday."

The chairman of the bench said: "It would have been better if the police had notified the court that the station was closed."